The Affinity Bridge is a mystery set in a steampunk version of Victorian London.  Airships, steam-driven cabs, and clockwork automatons are transforming society.  Queen Victoria is kept alive on a primitive life-support system.  London is experiencing a plague that transforms its victims into zombies.  But some things never change.  Crimes are still being committed and it is up to Agent of the Queen, Sir Maurice Newbury and new assistant Miss Veronica Hobbes to solve them.

In this particular adventure, Newbury and Hobbes’ first, the Crown calls on them to solve the mystery of a airship crash and its missing pilot.  At the same time, they are attempting to track down a mysterious glowing policeman accused of a series of strangulations.

Pros

1.  Zombies!
2. The ending of the book is one long action-packed chase. Very exciting.
3. The two mysteries are wrapped up nicely by the end of the book. There is a subplot, involving a third mystery, that is obviously left unsolved for a future book.

Cons

1. The author spends the entire book telling me how I should react and feel about the characters and events that   occur, instead of SHOWING me.
2. The pacing of the book is somewhat uneven. The end of the book was very exciting. The first half of the book drags. Nothing really happens for long sections of the book.

Conclusion

Very uneven.  I’m hoping that as the series progresses that the author loses his death grip on his characters and trusts his audience to figure out the meaning and motivations of his characters without the author’s constant omnipotent presence.

Reviewed by Jennifer Hancock.

Modo is an abandoned child in Victorian London, a child with such a fearsome appearance that no one could possibly care for him.  Mr. Socrates, though, a mysterious gentleman of means,  takes Modo in and raises him in a somewhat aloof fashion but with a purpose in mind.  A governess and a man with martial skills are his only companions and teachers but the approval of Mr. Socrates is of utmost importance to Modo.

Besides the education and training he has received, Modo has learned to develop and control, to a certain extent, his unusual physical powers.  Unwilling to let the world see his face, he wears a mask, but he also has the ability to transform his appearance for brief periods.  This ability is of special importance when he is suddenly forced to fend for himself as a test of his readiness to take his place as a spy at the age of 14 for the Permanent Association, secretive defenders of Queen Victoria and Great Britain.  Fend for himself he does, finding that he can support himself as a detective, and thus he meets a client, Miss Octavia Milkweed, and embarks on a most unusual case.

The Hunchback Assignments UK Cover

Technically, this is young adult fiction, but many elements make it very appealing to an older reader who will recognize many of the literary shout-outs.  A combination of steampunk, fantasy, mystery, espionage and action adventure lead to great fun and the villainous Clockworld Guild, with the mad scientist Dr. Hyde and his dastardly invention, may prove to be an ongoing adversary for Modo, Octavia and the Permanent Association.

I thoroughly enjoyed this and will look forward to future installments; I wish Mr. Slade would write faster.   I do have to say he has a terrific website (see the link above) and this is one time I think the UK and US covers are equally cool.   Also, Jayne Entwistle, already one of my favorite narrators, has done a great job again.

Very highly recommended for young adults and adults.

Reviewed by Lelia Taylor.

Soulless

Soulless
Gail Carriger
Orbit, October 2009
ISBN 9780316056632
Mass Market Paperback

British Victorian society has never been seen quite like this before.   Along with the usual obsessions with wealth, status and collecting clutter, one must also deal with the coexistence of the supernatural.   Werewolves and vampires, in particular, have been an open part of this society for years and get along with the human world quite well, although with a few necessary accommodations.  After all, werewolves do have that day of the month when the beast comes out and vampires have their own sleeping/waking peculiarities.

To help keep things under control, the supernatural contingent has its own policing, something like Scotland Yard, headed up by Lord Maccon, a loud and overbearing alpha werewolf.  He is being plagued by some weird things going on with vampires and his investigators, headed up by his Beta, Profesor Lyall,  are not making much progress.   Enter Alexia Tarrabotti, a most unusual woman who definitely does not fit well into British Victorian society, either natural or supernatural.   She comes to Lord Maccon’s attention again (there was a previous incident with a hedgehog) when she accidentally kills a vampire.  That Alexia killing a vampire is not completely unexpected  is understandable—she is, after all, a preternatural, a soulless being who cannot be turned or harmed by a supernatural.  No, the surprising thing is that this particular vampire is an unknown rogue.

So, can Alexia and Lord Maccon investigate without putting each other completely out of sorts?  And is romance in the cards for these two?  Will Lord Akeldama, the Beau Brummell of the vampire set, manage to maintain the impeccableness of his attire?  Will Biffy come to the rescue at the last moment?

Months ago, author Carrie Vaughn inadvertently coined a name for a new subgenre of fantasy, urbane fantasy.  This book, first in the Parasol Protectorate series, falls into that perfectly.  I like urban fantasy and mystery and historical fiction very much and this more than satisfied my craving for all three.  It is unquestionably one of my favorite books of 2009.

Very highly recommended for anyone who likes fantasy and mystery, with more than a little steampunk thrown in for good measure.

Reviewed by Lelia Taylor